Syfy's "Farscape" Discussion (1999-2003)

[TheLaughingMann]

This is the second Appreciation Thread I've done. First one goes to Batman: The Animated Series, refer to https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread...ghlight=batman . Since I have to step beyond my appreciation of classical animation, I figured with the timing of late, it would be best to do a science-fiction show that holds a very dear place in my heart, as being the first sci-fi show I ever watched, and is among my favorite TV shows to ever exist. I speak of Farscape.

But what is Farscape? Farscape is an Australian-American collaboration that began during the late 90s, airing from 1999 to 2003. It is the brainchild of Rockne S. O'Bannon, who also was behind the creation of SyFy's Defiance and CW's Cult. This show was produced by Jim Henson Productions and Hallmark Entertainment.

Originally airing on the Nine Network in Australia and YTV in Canada, it made its move to the States onto SciFi (SyFy) Channel and onto BBC2 in the UK a short time later. Despite having a regular and stable airing in Australia, Canada, and the UK, SciFi was notorious for airing the show after various breaks in time and sometimes in different time slots. This led to a very shaky airing schedule to get the show established where it could.

What makes Farscape so different from other sci-fi shows? Let's get to it.
1) John Crichton. He is a human scientist who also acts as an astronaut and pilot. What makes him so peculiar is that he brings wit and charm and brains into a place that no human has ever set foot. While it is obvious that the show eventually treats Crichton with some import for what he's done and is able to do (not solely cause he's an alien), it does it in such a natural way that it makes him a very human (narf) sort of character. And the performance Ben Browder gives to personify Crichton does make him stand out, giving the role severity and energy.
2) The aliens. We do eventually meet a diverse roster of aliens. You have your humanoid looking sorts portrayed by Claudia Black (Aeryn Sun, Sebacean), Anthony Simcoe (Ka D'Argo, Luxan), Virginia Hey (Pa'u Zotoh Zhaan, Delvian), Gigi Edgley (Chiana, Nebari) and many others. But we also see the Jim Henson Productions stretch their imagination beyond a Star Trek way of perceiving aliens, bringing us puppeteered creatures in the form of Rygel XVI (Hynerian), Pilot (who is called a Pilot), and various others. While we have to accept that a show of this caliber does thrive on a Star Trek way of budgeting and working in aliens, the prosthetics and makeup that go into it do make these characters stand out.
3) The premise. In short, the pilot episode sums it up. John Crichton, in testing out a theory in space, gets caught in a space/time event that sends him from his home to another point in space and time. His craft comes into proximity of a Leviathan, a bio-mechanical spaceship (a living ship) that is transporting alien prisoners. In sheer opportunity of escape, he is brought into their fold along with a pursuer that is also blacklisted, a former Peacekeeper soldier named Aeryn Sun. From here, the show does start off as a serialized sort, getting our characters into various events of the week that give us little perception of time and advancement. Yet as the show finds its room to grow, the overall plot expands. It takes the show into deeper, darker territories as it moves away from fewer serialized setups and embraces a more straightforward procession of seeing the story establish itself.
4) The tone of the show. The optimism of Star Trek, the military and religious mixture of Battlestar Galactica...many Sci-Fi shows of note stand out in their own way. Farscape's big standout is its tone. Over time, the story expands and gets darker, deeper, and more mysterious. The dialogue is also very particular. It takes a severity yet a subtlety to itself. Alien profanity does work itself in, establishing itself beyond the regular use of 'frak' in Battlestar Galactica, and the purity of dialogue shows like Babylon 5 and Star Trek thrived on. Drinking and drugs also have some presence in the show. Sexuality also takes an interesting turn in the show. While some are tastefully done, others are relegated to comedic relief. Psychological themes also weave their way in, resulting in some very interesting turns and twists with characters. Death and injury also come with their own natural effect. Some regular characters are killed off and injured. Even Crichton and Sun suffer through a wide range of emotions and elements exhibited on them through the show. Farscape worked with what it had and did its job well.

In the course of four years, this show had built up such a stable following of fans. It earned its fair number of nominations and awards from Saturn. As a cult show, it did in four years what many shows did in one: establish itself. However, it was able to do in four years what many shows did with one: Get cancelled. This cancellation came when the fourth season was due to air, SciFi (having been a backer of the show) believed that ratings decline in Season 3 was not enough to justify the cost of a fifth season. As a result, Farscape was also able to do what very few shows that got cancelled were able to as well: Get a return and get a proper ending. Yet Farscape's ending remains among one of the more satisfying of any show in existence to have been given such a chance.

The fan campaign culminated in such a huge turnaround in news and online that Brian Henson (Jim Henson's son, and an EP on Farscape) was able to get financial backing and worked with Rockne S O'Bannon and his company to produce a three hour mini-series titled Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars, a mini-series that took Season 5's main plot with the necessity to tie the critical story up accordingly. When it aired on Sci-Fi in 2004, the response was good but not enough to justify a return to form. Yet it provided a satisfying ending to the main plot to satisfy fans and leave room open for what could happen later.

It wasn't a total loss. Ben Browder and Claudia Black (John Crichton and Aeryn Sun) were able to migrate to Stargate SG-1 during the final two seasons as regulars. Stargate SG-1 showed the impact of Farscape as a whole by a quick parody of it in the episode "200".

While the hopes for a series of Webisodes were up in the air during the mid and late 00s, a comic book series surfaced that served itself up as an "Official" Season 6, bringing a new storyline in to continue events following the Peacekeeper Wars. In addition, a Farscape movie was also confirmed in 2014 by O'Bannon, but has yet to move on any front.

In summing up this rough presentation of a summary, I say that Farscape is a cult sci-fi show as of now, but was and surely is one of the top sci-fi series of any sort to exist. As with this thread, discuss, learn, live, love, all that good stuff.

And if we do have any Farscape fans here, look to Defiance (which got 3 seasons before ending) and Cult for more of O'Bannon's work.